The hybrid of Delta and Omicron, known as ‘Deltacron’, has been identified in France, Denmark and the Netherlands
Scientists have identified three separate hybrids of existing COVID-19 variants in relatively low numbers across Europe.
Two of the so-called ‘recombinant’ viruses are a mix of Delta and Omicron, while the other is a blend of two Omicron strains.
Experts say that the hybrid variants are not currently a significant cause for concern and are not linked to the recent rise in cases or hospital admissions in the UK, which is more likely to be driven by the highly infectious BA.2 variant of Omicron.
A hybrid of Delta and Omicron, already been identified in France, Denmark and the Netherlands and known as ‘Deltacron’, has been labelled XD by scientists on the Pango COVID-19 variant database. XD has been found in tens of cases in France and other European countries, but not in the UK.
Deltacron has properties which mean it could potentially cause a similar level of disease as the original Delta variant, while it also contains the highly infectious Omicron properties on the spike protein. XD has been circulating for a number of weeks but Omicron remains the dominant strain.
The second, XE, is a hybrid of the two main Omicron strains in the UK, BA.1 and the more infectious BA.2. Tom Peacock, a virologist at Imperial College London, tweeted that there are several hundred cases of XE. This variant, however, is not anticipated to be a cause for concern as the population is already familiar with Omicron, and the variant would likely be out-paced in numbers by BA.2 alone – which is 80% more infectious than BA.1.
The genomic make-up of XF, the third hybrid, is far closer to Omicron than Delta, so is not expected to have the same potential severity as XD. XF is present in the UK, but there are currently only a very small number of cases.
